"Ring ring ring~!"
Kamiyā Yuu, who was fully focused on revising the storyboards, suddenly heard the faint sound of his phone ringing. Slightly surprised, he opened a drawer and took out his black flip phone.
Only a few people knew his phone number. Who would call him during work hours?
Fujiwara Tora.
Kamiyā Yuu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. The moment he pressed the answer button, Fujiwara Tora's deep, urgent voice came through.
"Hey, Kamiyā, is everything okay on your end?"
"It's rare for you to call me at this hour, Fujiwara. What's the problem?"
"Don't play dumb. What's going on with 'Magical Girl Nanoha' being suspended for a week? You should know how much this will affect the anime's popularity. Isn't Kyoni Animation Co., Ltd.'s Waterloo the best example? Didn't Director Takagi say before that even using a recap episode to muddle through would be better than suspending an anime?"
Fujiwara Tora sounded helpless.
Kamiyā Yuu smiled apologetically at Uehara Etsuki and the others in the office, then left the office and went to the lounge before replying,
"I was somewhat mentally prepared for it. But there's no helping it. The animation production schedule couldn't keep up with the broadcast deadline."
"What happened? You don't seem like someone who would make that kind of mistake. And with Miss Morishita Aoi and Supervisor Uehara there, it should be even more impossible."
Kamiyā Yuu shrugged, his tone not particularly anxious.
"Only after production started did I realize I was somewhat dissatisfied with the story. So I decided to redraw the storyboards for 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' The already completed Episodes 3 and 4 have also been discarded."
This shocking statement caused the call to fall silent for a while. Only after a long time did Fujiwara Tora's bitter laugh come through.
"An ordinary animation studio would never make such a major mistake. But since it's you, I can somewhat understand. From the sound of it, there's no need to worry too much about you guys."
"You're someone from the 'Magical Girl MeowMeowMeow' side. Why are you suddenly caring about your rival?"
Kamiyā Yuu joked as he sat down on the sofa, casually picking up a cup and pouring himself some hot water.
"Winning without a fight isn't the result I want either. Besides, I'm not part of the production team. Compared to that, I really do hope to see you, as my friend, create an even better anime. That's all for now. I'm still at work, so it's not convenient to talk for long."
"Hehe."
Kamiyā Yuu chuckled softly and closed the flip phone.
Things developed just as Fujiwara Tora had said. The moment the 'Yosuganosora' Animation Studio announced that Episode 3 would be suspended for a week, discussions about 'Magical Girl Nanoha' instantly exploded.
Countless users maliciously speculated whether the production budget had been burned through, and whether the anime would simply be axed and abandoned.
The overall score for its section on the Nice website dropped from 9.7 to 9.2, and it was still continuing to receive low-score reviews from viewers who refused to accept the situation.
Japanese audiences had far less tolerance for mistakes than Chinese audiences. Calling it overcorrection would not be an exaggeration.
Over these three days, Kamiyā Yuu seriously planned the broad framework of the story and storyboards for 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' Occasionally, he would ask Kuroneko, Busujima Murasaki, and the others for their opinions, having them view the work purely from the perspective of ordinary viewers.
The original twelve-episode length was expanded to fourteen episodes. The overall pacing and story were drastically adjusted, with special focus placed on plotlines related to Fate Testarossa.
In this way, 'Magical Girl Nanoha' became closer to a dual-protagonist format. In the latter half of the story, the entire anime would be depicted from Fate Testarossa's perspective, adding many memories and lines belonging personally to her.
Even though he was modifying the existing storyboards, three days were still extremely rushed. Under such a busy schedule, the quality of Kamiyā Yuu's rough storyboard drafts had dropped by more than one level. They no longer had the near-key-animation level of detail from before.
However, when Kamiyā Yuu placed the newly revised storyboards before the upper management meeting, everyone believed that the quality of the storyboards had risen rather than fallen.
Even through Kamiyā Yuu's rough sketches, they could already feel that this story was far more gripping than before.
As long as the story was interesting, even a grade-schooler's doodles could attract people.
Just like how Kamiyā Yuu, after watching the anime and reading the remake manga, could still finish reading ONE's original doodle versions of 'One Punch Man,' 'Mob Psycho 100,' and 'Makai no Ossan.'
······
"How is it?"
"No good. The internet is full of complaints and mockery. They're saying our company doesn't have the ability and things like that. It's really annoying. As viewers, can't they show even a little tolerance?"
"But with President Kamiyā here, we don't need to worry."
"It's already been three days since President Kamiyā announced that the completed Episodes 3 and 4 were being discarded, and there still hasn't been any news."
"Kuroneko, don't you know the president? I heard President Kamiyā only decided to remake the anime after asking your opinion. Do you know anything?"
The female animators in the animation department enthusiastically discussed gossip. As they talked, their gazes eventually landed on Gogyo Ruri, who was wearing black gothic clothing.
Her petite, slender figure matched the black gothic outfit extremely well, like a girl who had walked out of fantasy film, her whole body giving off a mysterious and gloomy aura.
Her delicate little face had been carefully made up, and the beauty mark beneath her straight bangs added a touch of bewitching cuteness. Since her eyes could not wear colored contacts for long periods at work, Kuroneko's eyes were still an ordinary black.
"Hmph~ As far as I know, President Kamiyā has already completed the remake storyboards. News should come down today at the latest. There's nothing to worry about."
Gogyo Ruri answered unhurriedly. Both her aura and manner of speech had shifted with her clothing, leaning toward that sharp-tongued Kuroneko from 'Oreimo,' especially in terms of her arrogant attitude.
"Eh... Ruri, don't you think you've changed a lot? You're completely different from when you first joined the company."
The female coworkers giggled. As animation creators, they had all been exposed to 2D culture, so they naturally understood Gogyo Ruri's chūnibyō outfit.
"Wh-What?"
Gogyo Ruri froze. Turning her head, she saw her coworkers covering their mouths and laughing softly. Realizing something, she lowered her head with a red face and hurriedly explained,
"This... this is because the superv—President Kamiyā asked me to wear it."
Seeing Gogyo Ruri's adorably embarrassed appearance, the female animators became playful and teased her in drawn-out voices,
"So then, just what kind of relationship do you two have?"
The profession of animator had extremely strict requirements for delicate attentiveness, so women made up the majority of animators. Even an entire animation department being staffed by female employees was not rare in animation production companies.
"President Kamiyā is so young and talented. If I didn't already have a boyfriend, I might've fallen for him too."
"I get it~ I get it~ When I asked President Kamiyā for advice the day before yesterday, the serious look on his face was really attractive... how should I put it? Just watching him made time feel like it passed so quickly."
"Ah~~ How shameless, you little homewrecker!"
Mixed in among these female animators who were already used to navigating society, Gogyo Ruri truly had no idea how to respond. Seeing them start joking around with each other and forget the question from earlier, she let out a sigh of relief, quietly turned around, and continued her work.